decolonisation in asia and africa 1947-1967

• The greatest debate about decolonisation

  Explores whether independence was wrested from below, or whether Britain remained in control and granted freedom to her former territories
• The economic impact of WW2 had left Britain in an economically precarious position
• Britain was unable to continue ploughing money into colonial wars
• Reliance on the US

  • Britain’s growing relationship with (and reliance on) the USA made maintaining an Empire difficult.
  • Anti-colonial in its nature, USA would not allow the money they gave Britain to be used to prop up its Empire.
  • In the age of the Cold War, sustaining a close relationship with the USA became vital.
• Nationalist movements

  • The emergence of nationalist movements within the colonies challenged British hegemony.
  • Charismatic leaders often unified independence movements.
  • If local populations do not want foreign rule and are protesting more vehemently, handing over control seems fair. However, this had been true in many places throughout their occupation.
• The strength of Western Europe

  • The rapid recovery of Western Europe and the growing strength of the EEC (European Economic Community) shocked much of the West.
  • It suggested to Britain that it was in Europe, rather than its Empire, where its economic future and prosperity lay.
  • Historian Paul Baran, in The political economy of growth (1957) argues that decolonisation was rooted in the international shift in the structure of capitalism in the postwar era. Multinational companies saw old colonial structures as a threat.
• The timeline of decolonisation is just as debated by historians as the causes of decolonisation. Historians also debate the extent to which Britain was in control of the process of decolonisation.

  Britain in control

  • Former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in Pointing the Way (1972) argued that Britain’s Empire was always planning to fall, following the pattern of other great Empires. He thought that Britain was in control of the process throughout
• Decolonisation in West and East Africa happened

  After the British Empire gradually conceded power
• Independence groups seized upon the opportunity
• The Gold Coast

  Now Ghana
• The Burns Constitution of 1946

  1. Created a law-making Council that included the Governor of the Gold Coast, 6 British officials, 6 nominated members, and 18 elected representatives of the people

  2. In June 1946, the Gold Coast held elections
• Kwame Nkrumah founded the Convention People's Party


  1949
• Ghanaian independence

  • There was violence and animosity between the Ashanti-based National Liberation Movement and Nkrumah's CPP. Nkrumah received a 3-year prison sentence for organising mass protests but still managed to orchestrate election victories from prison.
  • By 1957, the Gold Coast and Togoland were granted independence as a united Ghana
• Local British officials were still derogatory to local nationalist movements, reportedly referring to Nkrumah's efforts for independence as 'our local Hitler'
• Nigeria

  • The Richards Constitution of 1946 created similar representation and law-making powers as the Burns Constitution.
  • After World War Two, trade union leaders like Michael Imoudu and ex-soldiers began to campaign more strongly for independence.
  • The ethnic divisions between the Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa made Britain hesitant to unite the country. However, nationalist momentum continued after the voting franchise grew after 1951.
  • In 1954, the area became the 'autonomous Federation of Nigeria'.
  • In 1958, the British government agreed to full Nigerian independence from 1960.
• Tanganyika


  Now known as Tanzania
• The British Colonial Development Corporation was tasked with investing £100 million in development projects across the Empire after World War Two
• Kenya

  • The cities of Mombasa and Nairobi were transformed by World War II.
  • This was because they saw rapid urbanisation and nationalism.
  • Initially, in 1944, the Kenyan Kikuyu Central Association was prohibited from any operations because of its threat to the colonial government.
  • Living conditions in the newly urbanised cities were very crowded. Combined with the powerful nationalist sentiment, this created a recipe for revolution.
• Project in Tanganyika

  • Aimed to farm food on 150,000 acres
  • Employed local people
  • Created cooking oil that could be exported to Britain
• 'Ground-nut army'


  100,000 ex-soldiers employed in the project
• The project cost £49 million and ruined the land on which the nuts were grown
• Tanganyika became independent with Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state


  1961
• Tanganyika joined with the island of Zanzibar and the country was renamed Tanzania


  29th of October 1964
• Mau Mau


  Extremist branch within the Kikuyu who began a series of high-profile and violent attacks on white settlers
• Sir Evelyn Baring declared a state of emergency in Kenya and arrested Kenyatta, the nationalist leader


  1952
• Despite little evidence, Kenyatta was convicted and sent to prison for 7 years
• 17,000 Mau Mau suspects were arrested
• 1,000 Kikuyu were hanged in response to the deaths of 70 Europeans
• Britain crushed this rebellion, but their moral and political authority vanished
• Kenya was granted independence

  1963
• Kenyatta led Kenya with a message of forgiveness and appointed the judge who rejected his appeal as Chief Justice for the country
• Decolonisation in southern Africa was affected by the apartheid policies of South Africa
• In Central Africa, decolonisation sparked intense conflict
• Apartheid

  Means 'apartness' in Afrikaans
• The Central African Federation

  • The Central African Federation (CAF) was created in 1953 but it only existed for 10 years.
  • The Central African Federation united Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and Nyasaland (Malawi).
  • Local nationalists clashed with the white governors of the CAF, demanding independence and self-determination
• In 1948, the Afrikaner National Party was elected, using the campaign slogan 'Apartheid'
• Apartheid policies


  • Split South Africa's black population into tribes
  • Segregate the tribes from the white population
• Rhodesia

  • In 1964, Rhodesia splintered.
  • Northern Rhodesia became Zambia.
  • Nyasaland became an independent country, Malawi.
  • In Southern Rhodesia, the Rhodesian Front was a political party founded in 1962 to campaign against black majority rule. It was led by Winston Field, and then Ian Smith. They believed in white minority rule in Rhodesia.
  • Smith illegally declared independence in 1965.
  • The civil war in Rhodesia over this issue lasted from 1964 to 1979 when Robert Mugabe came to power of the newly-named Zimbabwe
• In 1950, the party banned marriage and sex between black and white people
• Land acts took 80% of South Africa and gave the land to the white minority